ARTICLES ABOUT PAWAN HANS BY DATE - PAGE 3

KANPUR : Pawan Hans Helicopter Services will launch operations between Kanpur and Lucknow from June 1. "Industrialists from Kanpur have for long demanded air connectivity between these two cities. They had also requested the Union Civil Aviation Ministry in this regard," Anita Jha , General Secretary of UP Merchant Chamber of Commerce , said. This demand will be fulfilled due to the joint efforts of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and the Civil Aviation Ministry, she said.

MUMBAI: State-run helicopter operator Pawan Hans is planning to enter the commercial airline business offering regional connectivity and has already received a go-ahead from its board, a top official has said. The New Delhi based firm, however, is yet to decide on the business model and the timeline for the proposed venture, the official said. The country's largest helicopter company, which slipped into the red in the 2012 fiscal, has managed to turnaround with a Rs 7-8 crore net profit (unaudited)

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to extend helicopter services to far-flung inaccessible areas of the state which are devoid of proper road communication, for transporting passengers as well as essential commodities, including life-saving drugs. "We are going to extend very soon the helicopter services to the remote and far-flung district and administrative headquarters such as Anini, Anjaw, Mechuka, Yingkiong and Tuting which are not having good road communication or facing communication bottleneck," Chief Minister Nabam Tuki informed the assembly today.

KOLKATA: West Bengal government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pawan Hans Limited for starting chopper services for developing infrastructure in the tourism, health care, industry sectors and for disaster management. "This MoU will go a long way in creating basic infrastructure to improve connectivity between various towns of West Bengal," Pawan Hans chairman and managing director Anil Srivastava said after signing the agreement. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said since the state has diverse geographical features which include the hills of Darjeeling and the islands of the Sundarbans, air connectivity was important not only for tourism and industry but also for rescue operations during disasters.

GUWAHATI: With brand new M-172 helicopter, Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) on Thursday resumed its passenger services between Guwahati and Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh . The operations of Helicopters were stopped in the India's frontier state after the tragic death of former Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu on April 2011.

BANGALORE: Kerala will soon open up its coast and plentiful waterways to aircraft that can land and take off from both land and water. The southern state, whose economy thrives on earnings from tourism, has set aside Rs 12 crore for developing landing and staging spots, as well as other required infrastructure, to operate amphibious planes, or seaplanes, in 22 tourist destinations, according to Suman Billa , the state's tourism secretary....

SHILLONG: Meghalaya government is likely to resume the chopper services of state-run Pawan Hans in the absence of qualified bidders, Transport Minister A T Mondal said today. Its services were suspended in the wake of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu's death in a crash on April 30, 2011. Meghalaya had sought from bidders for an all-weather twin-engine chopper which could withstand the test of erratic climatic conditions prevailing in the state, the terrain and which uses state-of-the-art safety technology.

NEW DELHI: Former Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Bharat Bhushan's unceremonious ouster by the civil aviation ministry has put the airline regulator in a tenuous position - its top two officials have a direct conflict of interest. The new acting DGCA Prashant Sukul is on the Air India board, while the joint DGCA Anil Srivastava is also the CMD of Pawan Hans Helicopters . DGCA regulates Air India, Pawan Hans and all their competitors. This is the second time in a fortnight that the aviation ministry has refused to comply with the diktat of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)

NEW DELHI: With the cancellation of flying licence to Global Vectra helicopters , hunt is on for new operators to fill in the gap for taking part in sorties during anti-Naxal operations besides helping oil companies in their off-shore functions and also ferrying of pilgrims. Aviation regulator DGCA suspended the operating permit of Global Vectra, whose promoter Ravi Rishi is under the CBI scanner in the controversial Tatra truck deal with the army, following withdrawal of security clearance by the Union Home Ministry.